1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telecommunications network and, in particular, to the provision of telecommunications services using service script logics (SSLs) within an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) based telecommunications network.
2. Description of Related Art
As stored program-controlled (SPC) switching systems have evolved, a wide variety of useful features have been developed to extend the communication capabilities such systems provide. Such services or features include call forwarding, "800" or toll free services, call screening, etc. Initially, all hardware and software modules required for providing a particular subscriber feature were placed and executed within a particular telecommunications exchange serving the service requesting subscriber terminal. As a result, each time a new subscriber feature or service was introduced, each and every one of the associated telecommunications exchanges inconveniently and inefficiently needed to be serviced and updated to support the service.
With the development and improvement of sophisticated telecommunications applications, the telecommunications industry has adopted the term "intelligent network" (IN) to denote a concept and architecture for providing vendor-independent and network-independent interfaces between the service logic and the transmission and switching system of a multi-enterprise telecommunications network. The goals of the IN are to centralize the service execution in a control node within a telecommunications network in order to provide rapid definition, testing and introduction of new services as well as the modification of existing services. IN also provides greater flexibility in the design and development of new services in a multi-vendor environment with shorter lead time, and standard network interfaces.
The basic concept behind IN is to move the "intelligence" out of each local exchange or Service Switching Point (SSP) and centralize the services providing the intelligence in a Service Control Point (SCP) . By utilizing different combinations of basic building blocks, known as Service Independent Blocks (SIBs), a number of different Service Script Logics (SSLs) can be conveniently created. A specific IN service is then further developed and provided to telecommunications subscribers by utilizing one or more of the SSLs. As a result, there are different IN services for providing different subscriber features within an IN based telecommunications network. Because of such a one-to-one mapping relationship between a desired subscriber feature and the effectuating IN service within an SCP, in order to meet the needs of two different subscribers wanting two different functions or features, two different IN services must be developed and maintained. As a result, if there are three SSLs available, six (3|-3.times.2.times.1) different IN services could be potentially created. If there are seven different SSLs available, potentially five thousand forty (5040) IN services would need to be developed and maintained to meet the needs of all possible subscriber demands. Thus, the number of services, the overhead, complexity, and maintainability can be appreciated.
Accordingly, there is a need for a mechanism to dynamically combine necessary SSLs during run-time to provide a desired subscriber service without requiring a separate IN service.